Germany’s Joint Gambling Authority of the States (GGL) said 254 illegal online operators had withdrawn their offerings from the German market by December 31, 2025, according to its latest annual report. A further 370 advertisers stopped promoting illegal gambling brands over the same period.
The operator count is up 66 on the previous year’s total, while advertiser withdrawals rose by 86. The GGL reviewed 2,263 websites during 2025, a process that led to the removal of 1,208 illegal gambling sites and 343 advertisements for illegal content.
Enforcement action by the numbers
The regulator opened 287 prohibition proceedings in 2025, covering unlicensed gambling operations, promotion of unlicensed gambling, and advertising activity tied solely to illegal offers. Hearings and prohibition orders led 152 illegal operators or advertisers to cease activity during the year.
The 2025 figures build on a smaller base. In 2024, the GGL opened 231 prohibition proceedings and reviewed more than 1,700 websites, registering 858 German-language gambling sites run by 212 illegal operators. Roughly 450 illegal sites lost access to Germany that year through prohibition orders, with another 657 blocked under the EU’s Digital Services Act. The 2025 total of 287 proceedings and 2,263 websites reviewed marks a clear step up in enforcement volume.
The enforcement drive runs alongside a regulated market that continues to grow. Germany’s licensed online casino sector generated €4.6 billion in virtual slot wagers during 2025, giving scale to what the GGL is trying to protect from offshore competition.
Black market share still disputed
The annual report follows the GGL’s claim in March that Germany’s online channelisation rate stands at 77%. That estimate puts the unregulated share of total market volume at 22.97%, according to the regulator’s own figures.
Other estimates diverge sharply. A University of Leipzig study has put the legal market’s share at less than half of all gambling activity, while H2 Gambling Capital estimated online channelisation at around 40% for 2024 and expects roughly 36% for 2025. Tipico’s director of iGaming, Christian Heins, argued in a public post that the online casino black market alone could be worth up to €2 billion, roughly three times the GGL’s total illegal market estimate, pointing to gaps between tax revenue and reported turnover and to traffic data showing higher volumes for black market sites than licensed ones.
Germany is not alone in that dispute. Global unregulated online gambling turnover reached an estimated $5.9 trillion in 2025, and channelisation gaps between regulator and industry estimates have featured in compliance reviews across Europe over the past year.
A regulatory review is coming for GGL too
The report lands as the GGL enters a new phase of oversight. From July 1, 2026, Christian Hochgrebe took over as chairman of the GGL’s Administrative Board, succeeding Sandro Kirchner, ahead of the first full review of Germany’s Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV 2021) since it took effect five years ago. The review is expected to examine advertising rules, deposit limits and customer protection duties, though not the treaty’s €1 stake limit on online slots or its other core product restrictions.
Outgoing chair Kirchner said enforcement against illegal gambling had intensified over the past year, particularly through measures targeting the hosting and payment providers that offshore operators rely on. GGL board member Ronald Benter said the authority was “well prepared for a year full of challenges” as Hochgrebe took over.
Whether the GGL’s enforcement record and its channelisation estimates hold up under scrutiny will be tested directly once the treaty review gets under way, with advertising rules and customer protection duties both up for reassessment.
Source: Joint Gambling Authority of the States (GGL)
